John I, (1199-1216) King of England

Updated on March 18, 2013

John takes the throne

Richard I died unexpectedly in battle leaving an empire that had become used to some self government. Richard did not leave any legitimate children and on his death the various parts of the empire chose their own successors. The Barons of Normandy and England chose Richard's brother as king whilst Anjou, Maine and Touraine chose Richard's nephew Arthur who was just twelve years old; Aquitaine was still held by John's mother on his behalf. To keep Arthur from his lands John gave Vexin and Evreux to King Philip Augustus II, and he was instrumental in ousting Arthur from his lands.

King John

Marriage

In late 1200 John had his first marriage annulled and then married the heiress Isabella of Angouleme. Isabella had been engaged to marry Hugh of Lusignan and had John given Hugh adequate compensation the matter would have rested there but John would not pay. This action caused John to lose all his families hard fought for possessions in France.

Hugh of Lusignan appealed to King Philip Augustus and in 1202 he declared that all claims to land in France, by King John were forfeit. John failed to hold on to his land because of his poor treatment of the leading barons of Anjou and Poitou and his reputation was undermined as a rumour (probably true) stated that he was responsible for his nephew Arthur's death. John was not a strong king and in December 1203 escaped across the channel to England whilst Philip overran most of his possessions in France.

Living in England

King John settled in England, the first resident king since King Stephen. He was not liked as he constantly suspected that he was being plotted against, He did have difficulties. at home and in Europe. He was duty bound to try to recover his lands in France but the french king was a much stronger opponent now he was in possession of them. There was a high rate of inflation at home and prominent families who were in difficulties blamed the king perhaps because they did not understand the power of economic forces. Royal revenues were eroded by the inflation and as a result John levied frequent taxes and made laws concerning the uses of the forests which were profitable but unpopular with the people.

The King and the Church

John had major altercations with the church. He clashed with the pope,Innocent III over the election of the Archbishop of Canterbury. An edict by the Pope in 1208 led to the suspension of church services for six years followed by the excommunication of John in the following year. John didn't care; he didn't value the church's moral and spiritual role and simply responded by confiscating the estates of the church which went to alleviate his worsening financial position. In 1212 John realised that his position as King was vulnerable. The Barons were plotting against him, he had little support in the country and without any semblance of spirituality or semi- divine power or authority he was vulnerable to rebellion and invasion. By May 13 he had won the pope over by agreeing to hold England as a fiefdom of the papacy and therefore he was confident of receiving the Pope's support in any coming battles.

Magna Carta

Attempts to Consolidate

John attempted to recover his lands in 1214 but was defeated at the Battle of Bouvines which encouraged the English rebels to take action. The rebels did not have a figure head to rally around. The King's sons were too young to manipulate into an opposition to their father. They decided instead to demand from the King a programme of reform under his leadership. In June 1215 after rebel forces had captured the City of London the rebels forced King John to accept the Magna Carta. John saw it as a means of buying time and quarrelled with anyone who tried to implement it. The rebels realised that John was impossible to negotiate with and invited Louis, the son of the French King to accede the throne. The country was forced into civil war which was causing unrest all over the country. In October 1216 King John died unexpectedly leaving a nine year old heir, Henry to govern a split country. History has labelled John as a poor King, incompetent at best, when dealing with his more powerful subjects and the church.

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Comments 8 comments

CASE1WORKER 5 years ago from UNITED KINGDOM Author

Anna Gambier- Thank you for your visit,hopefully I should be able to write quite a lot of historical hubs and you are definitely right, deep and dark really describes the monarchy.

Anna Gambier 5 years ago

I love history, especially the deep and the dark of British monarchs...incredibly interesting writing, so glad to have found you. I'll be reading your hubs for months to come.

CASE1WORKER 5 years ago from UNITED KINGDOM Author

thankyou James, I am glad you enjoyed it

James A Watkins 5 years ago from Chicago

Thank you for this outstanding article about King John I. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It is very good.

CASE1WORKER 5 years ago from UNITED KINGDOM Author

David 99999 thanks for stopping by. I love anything to do with the past and luckily my son does too so we spend a lot of time in museums and visiting castles- it really brings history alive when you see how and where people lived

David99999 5 years ago

I want to tell you...I enjoyed this immensely. History is one of my favorite subjects. Also, I find King John I of England to have been one the of most fascinating monarchs of all time.

Thank you very much for sharing this!

David

CASE1WORKER 5 years ago from UNITED KINGDOM Author

Docmo- thanks for your kind words- enjoy your hop!!

Docmo 5 years ago from UK

Nice bit of English history- readable, informative and plenty of new info I didn't know. This is the joy of hub hopping- well done! voted up.